Washing powder or something that actually works

[StopInhalingRevels]

I'm finding that all my washing is coming out unclean. Stains don't seem to be coming out. It's not the machine. I've been working my way through various powders after being told powders are better than pods or liquids. None seem to be any good anymore.

What do you use to get your laundry clean on a normal wash? Don't care about "lovely smells" etc, I just want things to come out clean and not have to scrub with vanish every time just to get marks out.

DAILY WASH
For everyday items such as underwear and shirts.
4kg

Says nothing about being lightly soiled. I pretreat stains and use daily wash with 4 rinses and it works fine for them

If it's not a daft question, how do you know it's not the machine?

Spray with vanish

Because it's under a year old, cleaned regularly and it things came out lovely and clean initially.

I don't increase the rinses. I'll try that.

What pre stain treatment do you use please and which powder?

I had this. Dark T shirts with grease stains , white blouses with bolognaise stains that fade but don’t actually disappear. Then I started spot treating with neat Ariel gel and a bit of hot water . Rubbed in gently with an old soft toothbrush . Works like magic.

Tesco's own stain remover is very good. Spray and powder. I spray garments to sit for a little bit or soak in hot water with powder dissolved.

I have a product from Pakistan called Sufi soap which is a bar of yellow soap for more stubborn stains and Have to hand scrub them away. Might be worth checking if a similar product exists here in UK

Elbow Grease Stubborn Stain Remover Bar, 100 G https://amzn.eu/d/0dWdVflP

Elbow Grease is meant to be quite good from what I hear. For a quid it's worth a shot.

I always put fairly liquid* on stains before I put the item in the wash - works for me.

*other washing up liquids exist but I can't vouch for their efficacity at stain removal

I got really into cleaning grass stains off cricket whites a couple of years ago. Turned into a sad advert mum. I always soaked first for a couple of hours in vanish powder before scrubbing them with a vanish bar. Tedious but they didn’t come out otherwise and it was irritating me. So I think soaking works well.

@StopInhalingRevels I've used washing up liquid rubbed into stains, or that vanish gel stuff or vanish stick soap bar thing. May have also used The Pink Stuff spray. I then use bio powder; no particularly brand; whatever is on offer tbh.

Some of the paint that kids use in school doesn't wash out of anything. Agree that the stained stuff needs a longer wash.

I am also not in UK but my go to for serious stains is the Sunlight green bar laundry soap, I am not sure if it is available there. If not, any bar of soap will work. I have used normal Dettol soap and it works so well too.

If you want to try it OP. Dampen the area with the stain. Rub the bar soap over it until it has a soap coating the spot. Then leave it like that overnight, for a day etc. Don't wet it again. Then wash it as normal in the next load.

This works so well on white socks. And on underarm deo stains.

Ariel bio. Powder.
Which Mag has named it best detergent so many times.
I'll buy cheap fabric softener but don't skimp on detergent.

If you didn't have this problem before, what's changed since then?

Honestly nothing.

I figured they must have changed the formula in my powder (Lidl own brand, had been brilliant up until then) making it less effective.

It was at that point I tried the more expensive and highly rated brands. Persil - ok. Surf - rubbish. Fairy - rubbish. Ariel - same as persil.

All bought as the bio option, as I thought non bio was supposed to be far less effective. I'm not sure why I think this though, probably something nan told me many moons ago.

The 1h wash doesn't clean things that are really dirty on my machine.
It definitely wouldn't work on clothes with grass stains.
Tbh I would always assume to pre-treat those.
Try a longer wash and applying stain treatment (not scrubbing, just spray on).

Do you measure your powder out and are you using the right dose for your soiling level, water hardness and load size?

I had an outbreak of smelly washing and found I was only using half the recommended powder amount. Upped it and the problem was solved.

I use Ariel and Ecover fairly interchangeably.

I did wonder if I was using the wrong amount, so I have measured out the persil I'm currently using. It does look smaller than the amount I'd throw in of the Lidl powder. Not by too much though. It made sense to me that it would be a bit less because it was a more premium/expensive product so likely to have a higher concentration of active ingredient.

I'll double up the dose to use up the remainder of the box and see if it makes a difference.

If nothing changed then are you sure it isn't a problem with your washing machine?

I know you said it's new but new ones can go wrong too!

Which? Magazine have just published an extensive report on laundry products.

Daz works best for my hard water

I do a powder stain remover machine pre wash, if things are really stained I use astonish for whites and colours its just as good as vanish.

The new concentrated powders are rubbish ime I just use more than it says on the box I buy powder that's on offer so I'm not on the same brand all the time.

I use Ocean Saver liquid pods in the drum. In the drawer I put one tablespoon soda crystals and a teaspoon of sodium percarbonate which is green bleach. I use a 20 degree long cycle.

I’ve only been doing this for a couple of months since following Nancy Birtwhistle on IG as I’m trying to be more eco. I was really sceptical but my laundry has never been cleaner. Next step is making my own detergent once these pods are finished.

Green bleach is excellent at stain removal if you soak overnight. It works quickly too.